Group urges Darvon, others be phased out

WASHINGTON -- Darvon, Darvocet, and related painkillers should eventually be banned, a group said yesterday in a government petition that cited the accidental deaths of at least 2,110 people between 1981 and 1999.

Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of the Public Citizen's Health Research Group, said the main active ingredient in the drugs, propoxyphene, is a relatively weak painkiller.

''This is a black-and-white example of a drug where its risks far outweigh its benefits," Wolfe said. ''There's no excuse for this drug to be around."